It’s in its thoughtful analysis of humanity’s hopes and fears that McLeod‘s documentary excels, using its “unimaginable” story to tackle universal struggles and anxieties.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 20, 2023

The film achieves a Rashomon-like complexity of viewpoint, although it’s a lot funnier than Kurosawa’s classic film. It’s partly the Scottish sense of humour, so rich in its understanding of human frailty.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 20, 2023

McLeod reveals some astonishing discrepancies between how the former classmates collectively remember events -- and what actually happened.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 19, 2023

Go in knowing as little as possible... absolutely trippy... go see!

| Jan 19, 2023

At 104 minutes long, My Old School is a fluffy and frictionless film that lacks any real heft to make it a substantially entertaining and engaging endeavour.

| Jan 12, 2023

… certainly interesting, and Cumming does a wonderful job …

| Original Score: 15/20 | Jan 6, 2023

Lee was interviewed but refused to be filmed for the documentary. Instead, in what turns out to be a blessing, Alan Cumming lip syncs his words as only Cumming can.

| Dec 20, 2022

Some things you gotta see to believe—especially when they’re true. 

| Original Score: 4/5 | Nov 30, 2022

"The real hook here is the collective memory of this unique class of schoolmates, and how the experience shaped their lives. It’s kooky, funny, and endlessly enjoyable."

| Nov 19, 2022

This documentary will have you shocked, stunned and sniggering like you used to at the back of the classroom. My Old School gets top marks. A class act.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 13, 2022

…My Old School aims to elicit a warm glow of nostalgia for schooldays, but the mean-spirited untruths featured here credit Brian McKinnon at the expense of his teachers and classmates…

| Original Score: 2/5 | Nov 1, 2022

With whimsical animation and compelling interviews, the documentary My Old School tells the strange-but-true story of an unusual student who enrolled in Scotland's Bearsden Academy in 1993. It's a bittersweet tale of deception, denial, and broken dreams.

| Sep 25, 2022

A series of playful animated reconstructions are employed throughout, and the great Alan Cumming delivers a tricky yet effective lip-synch over audio recordings with the real-life swindler. In a word? Unmissable.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 25, 2022

Asked to reconcile this with his fraud, he [Brian MacKinnon] responds: "All I can say is, what is a person?" It's the question beating at the heart of this light-hearted but engrossing film.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 22, 2022

It’s a fascinating story that starts as an affable, strange-but-true tall tale but ends in a decidedly minor key.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 21, 2022

[An] engrossing, thoughtful, touching and frequently funny documentary...

| Original Score: 5/5 | Aug 20, 2022

The documentary always finds the most riveting points in the story to fixate on, allowing us to see through Brian/Brandon’s eyes and through the eyes of those who were fooled. Everyone gets their day in court.

| Aug 20, 2022

Using animations to bring to life 1990s classroom life, My Old School paints a vivid picture of a remarkable story.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2022

A labyrinthine network of self-deception, snobbery and megalomania as MacKinnon’s antiseptic arrogance creeps through...

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 19, 2022

Some stories are best savored, gently rolled in the mouth like hard (brain) candy, until the last bits of flavor become taste ghosts. Others are just really baller Wikipedia entries. “My Old School” is more of the latter than the former.

| Original Score: C+ | Aug 19, 2022